Something must be done about shopping & wastage!!

CreditCrunchie

I went through my bank statements yesterday and added up all the things I spent last month that weren't bills. I was shocked to realise that last month I'd spent £230 on little bits of food shopping here and there!!! We rarely do a big shop and tend to just buy food for dinner on the day, or grab a pudding or snacks to compliment what happens to be left over etc. often if we make a lot of something, the rest gets wasted - good example is cheese pie made last week which we ate half of and left the rest for the next day in the fridge. Got invited out two nights in a row so the cheese pie got wasted

Having realised the amount we're spending on little bitty garage/ co-op shops and how much we waste, something must be done! In my theoretical budget I always thought we would spend around £200 BETWEEN us per month!

I tried monthly meal planning once and had a big home delivery from Asda for it, but it all got horribly complicated when we missed scheduled meals to go out or have takeaway etc instead. Any tips for a terribly disorganised couple with no kiddies?

paulineb_2

Do you have a freezer, can you batch cook and put back what you dont eat in the freezer?

I think you need to scale back shopping in bits and pieces and do a large shop once or twice a month.

I actually dont meal plan but I do have a freezer and every now and then I'll spend a few hours cooking so that I know I have meals to fall back on should I get to the there's nothing in the house to eat stage.

If you add it all up, thats £2500 a year which Im sure you could put to much better use.

browneyedbazzi

I can sympathise OP! We don't waste much food but our grocery bill seems to be quite high- I added up our grocery bills from January today (because it was the most recent month when we were home most of the time) and found that I spent over £300...it isn't unaffordable and I can't see it changing because I already shop quite smartly (taking advantage of offers and I cook most things from scratch) and we like to eat well, but it's more than I thought I was spending.

I know a lot of people suggest doing big shops, but I really prefer doing small shops every 3 or 4 days so that we can eat things when they are fresh and don't waste food (I only buy what will be used in the next few days and we throw away very little). We also have a very small kitchen with limited storage space and a small fridge/freezer so there wouldn't be anywhere to put a big shop.

rach_k

I think weekly meal planning is a LOT easier than monthly planning. Why not try that? What I tend to do is plan the meals, place an online order, then when it arrives I check dates on things and re-jig the plan if necessary. If we go out/get takeaway unexpectedly, I just move the meals back a day so it doesn't mess with any use by dates too much. I tend to put things like baked potatoes, pasta etc towards the end of the week with things that have a real use by date at the start so it gives a bit more flexibility to move things around. Then at the end of the week when it's time to place the next food order, I look at what we haven't eaten and stick it on the next week's plan. If there is ever anything with a use by date and I know we're not going to eat it, I just put it in the freezer and use it the next week.

CreditCrunchie

This is do helpful, especially the tip on leaving potatoes/ pasta etc till the end of the week and fresher stuff early on! Thank you all, I will try this and let you know how we get on. It amazes me how easy it is to waste money like I have been doing!

maman

CreditCrunchie wrote: »

This is do helpful, especially the tip on leaving potatoes/ pasta etc till the end of the week and fresher stuff early on! Thank you all, I will try this and let you know how we get on. It amazes me how easy it is to waste money like I have been doing!

I do much the same. My meal plan always has a few 'freezer' meals that can be shuffled onto nights where I CBA or left for another week if we eat out unexpectedly. My freezer meals are HM and so could yours be, like your cheese pie! It' a good idea to deliberately cook double and freeze half.

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

For me I go shopping once a month and then top up bread and milk when needed. Meal planning for a week gives us the flexibility that if we go round to friends or whatever, we can just bump everything along. Our meal planning normally revolves around what needs using up. Also I cook things from scratch and bulk cook and put in freezer as home made ready meals for nights when time is short. Also I do a lot of yellow sticker shopping for things that go into the freezer anyway and bulk buy non perishables which save money on the long run. Also know how to store food to get it to last I believe is very important e.g. taking fruit abs veg out if the polytheen bags so they can breath and do not sweat and storing in the fridge.

That is what works for me but it is about what works for you, what you are comfortable doing and what fits in with your lifestyle (spending 1.5 hours in the supermarkee waiting for the yellow stickers is not everyones cup of yes, but its one of my pass times)

CreditCrunchie

What is yellow sticker? Your grocery siggie is inspiring Thanks for the tips

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

CreditCrunchie wrote: »

What is yellow sticker? Your grocery siggie is inspiring Thanks for the tips

Thanks. Yellow sticker, whoopsy, reduced to clear. They are the stickers that they put on to reduce thr food with that days used by date on. For example I have got packets of diced sweed and carrot mix for 6p. That goes in my freezer and I use it for a slow cooker casserole meal. What is then left over from that I would make some short crust pastry and make a pie using the left overs for filling.

My signature is a bit misleading as we budget £100 a month but £20 of that goes into a seperate pot as I buy home grown beef, lamb, pork, bacon, gammon sbd sausage of my mum who lives on a farm and 'grows' them.

CreditCrunchie

Great idea! I can see I'm going to need to do some research as 6p for a bag of veg sounds brilliant!

Ilona

I'm amazed that someone has never heard of yellow sticker shopping, I live on yellow stickers. CC, go to your supermarket at around 7pm and look in the chiller cabinet, fruit and veg section, and bakery. You might find something for a few pennies which is going to go out of date on that day.
Ilona